It’s the holiday season and that means endless amounts of
turkey and green bean casserole, Black Friday shopping madness, children writing
their wish lists, Christmas music in stereo 24-7, wrapping paper, bows, and an
abundance of holiday fever!
Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years, College
Football Bowl Games... The list goes on! There is just something special about the holiday season. We get together with
our extended family and friends, laugh about the ugly sweaters, hide silly
magical elves for our kids, eat, drink and are full of holiday cheer!
But that holiday cheer doesn’t resonate everywhere…
Sadly there are families that don’t know where their next
meal will come from. Most days are dark for them, not just a particular shopping
adventure we vainly show our greed for, on a Friday. The children’s wish list
is simple – they just want something that tells them somebody loves them. For
these families the holidays are just another reminder of what they don’t have.
Many of us will laugh about putting on a few pounds during
the holidays, while there are children whose only certain meals are breakfast
and lunch on school days. During their two-week holiday break, they will be
left to wonder where their next meal might come from.
These aren’t just people on the other side of the world or
in someone else’s town, these are people in your community, and mine.
Many of you make it a point each and every year to serve
meals or donate toys, and that is great! When you do, ask yourself:
Are you serving them because it makes you feel good or because
you truly love?
Jesus tells us in Matthew 22
“Love
your neighbor as yourself” (Verse 39)
Do you love others as much as you love yourself?
Sounds simple right? I suppose you could say that is about
as simple as it gets, but I’d argue that is a very difficult thing to actually
do. I know it is for me.
I can recall the many years where I would box up the toys my
children no longer played with and the clothes that no longer fit my family.
I’d take them to the Goodwill store to be donated and leave feeling good about
myself. I was helping others, right?
If I was honest with myself, I was just taking stuff I
didn’t want anymore and donating it in case someone else wanted my leftovers.
It wasn’t stuff I was going to use anymore. I had gotten my utility out of it
and it was time to pass it along to someone else.
And that is what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 22
right?
I was loving those in need by giving them my leftovers.
If I’m going to love my neighbor as I love myself, I
shouldn’t be giving them my throwaways, I should be giving them my best. If my
loving others doesn’t cost me anything, doesn’t’ require me to adjust my own
lifestyle in some way, then I’m not doing it right.
I’m not saying donating used items is bad. It’s not, and
there are people who can use or want second hand items. But there’s a huge
difference between donating that sweater you wore twice and giving away ratty
clothes.
My perspective changed again when I was delivering holiday
meals to families in need. A local restaurant and grocery store chain donated
the food, and we were tasked to drive it to their homes. Admittedly when I saw what was in the
donations, I was disappointed. It wasn’t much, but who am I to condemn a
business that is willing to donate food?
One home in particular wrecked me, as the mother of four
malnourished kids was so grateful for the donated food we brought. While thanking us, I noticed all the kids
were bundled up in blankets and she was heating her home by turning the oven on
and leaving the door open. Embarrassed
by the condition of her home, she told me about the broken heater and I could
see the shame on her face.
I just wanted to cry. I wanted to give her everything I
have.
It was in that moment when it became real to me, and I
realized the pitiful amounts of food we were delivering wasn’t good enough.
Not for me.
Not for them.
Not for Jesus…
So we got more. A lot more, went back and Love-Bombed them.
In Matthew 25 Jesus tells of a parable about the difference
between the sheep and goats. He teaches that some will say they loved God with
all their hearts and demonstrated it by giving others something to eat,
something to drink, providing shelter, clothes, and love. These are referred to
as the sheep.
While others will seek righteousness by their actions, not
born from their heart. They’ll do things try and earn God’s love while ignoring
others in need. Jesus says to those:
“Truly
I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not
do for me.” Matthew 25:45
Simply put, our lives will be measured by how much we love.
I’m not here to make you feel bad about yourself. It’s not
my goal to condemn you, judge you, or make you feel guilty. I want to encourage
you to love!
This holiday season I want to encourage each of you to go
and serve those in need. When you do, be intentional about asking someone his
or her name. Shake a hand; give a hug. Make a new friend. If it’s not already,
it’ll be real to you at that point.
These are real people, who God loves, and we should love too.
If we are called to love them as we love ourselves we can’t be okay with giving
them our crap. Not sharing our ratty clothes, broken toys, or leftover food. They
have feelings, wounds, thoughts, love, and purpose. God made them just as
carefully as He made you and me.
And He loves them just as much as He loves you and me too.
God didn’t send us His unwanted Son to die for our sins. He
sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ.
The best possible thing He could have sent.
Are you serving with your best?
“We’re not giving what we’re called to give, unless that
giving affects how we live — affects what we put on our plate and where we
make our home and hang our hat and what kind of threads we’ve got to have on
our back. Surplus giving is the leftover you can afford to
give; Sacrificial giving is the love
gift that changes how you live — because the love of Christ
has changed you. God doesn’t want your leftovers. God wants your love
overtures, your first-overs, because He is your first love.” -Ann
Voskamp
“For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes
in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son
into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John
3:16-17
There is also a fantastic blog written by Kristen Welch you
can read here
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